A reflective spatial optical modulation array device is made of regularly tiled co-planner pixels, each of which can individually and independently modulate and reflect a beam of incident illumination in a spatial pattern that corresponds to an electrical input to the device and its individual pixels. The incident illumination can be modulated in intensity, phase, polarization or direction of its reflection. A Digital Mirror Device (DMD) and a Liquid Crystal On Silicon (LCOS) are two among popularly used dimensional reflective spatial optical modulation array devices.
A galvanic light valve (GLV) offer an alternative two dimensional reflective optical modulation solution to the DMD and LCOS, with promised further improvement in (a) gray-scale capability, (b) modulation speed, and (c) optical efficiency. Though a micro optical-electrical-mechanical system (MOEMS) device, the design and construction of reported GLV devices disclosed in the prior art are not readily manufacturable in semiconductor fabrication practice, with acceptable precision tolerance required for its complicated MOEMS array microstructures and reasonable device yield for production.